Company faces $89,000 in fines after worker gets struck by forklift

Norwalk Reflector Staff
•
Jan 19, 2013 at 6:07 AM

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Plastic Systems LLC in Kenton with five safety violations after a worker was injured when struck by a forklift. The September complaint inspection has resulted in proposed penalties totaling $89,000.

“Employers are responsible for ensuring workers are properly trained in the operation of equipment and that equipment, such as forklifts, are maintained in good working order,” said Kim Nelson, area director for OSHA in Toledo.

A willful violation was cited for failing to remove unsafe forklifts from service. A willful violation is one commit ted with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Three serious violations were cited for failing to complete forklift inspections, retrain workers in forklift operations following an incident where an injury occurred and operate a forklift in a safe manner. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Plastic Systems also has been cited with one other-than-serious violation for failing to have name and capacity plates on forklifts. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

Plastic Systems, headquartered in Romeo, Mich., creates custom plastic molds and employs about 300 workers company-wide and about 100 at its Kenton facility. The company also operates facilities in Swartz Creek, Mich., and El Paso, Texas. Both the Kenton and El Paso facilities have been previously inspected by OSHA and issued citations for failing to remove unsafe forklifts from service in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.